Jose Mourinho raises doubt over Harry Kane match fitness

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has suggested Harry Kane may not be match fit if and when the Premier League season resumes.

Kane ruptured the tendon in his left hamstring during Spurs’ 2-1 defeat at Southampton on New Year’s Day and was subsequently ruled out until April, though there were fears he would possibly miss the entire club campaign and this summer’s European Championships with England.

However, Mourinho has now revealed that while Kane – alongside Moussa Sissoko and Steven Bergwijn – has recovered from his injury, the question of match fitness is another matter altogether.

“They are recovered from their injuries,” Mourinho told Sky Sports (as relayed by talkSPORT). “So Harry Kane is not injured, Moussa Sissoko is not injured, Steven Bergwijn is not injured, but it is one thing not to be injured, it’s another thing to be ready to play football.

“For them it is many, many, many weeks of injury and when the injuries were almost at an end, we stopped training (because of the coronavirus pandemic).

“I don’t know, they don’t know, we have to wait for the official and right permission for the players to train again in groups to see if they can come back to a normal competition level.

“So if we play this season, the remaining nine matches, it would be good for everyone of us, it would be good for football, it would be good for the Premier League if players of that quality can play the remaining matches.”

Concerns over Kane’s match fitness mirror the same period of last season, when the 26-year-old was arguably rushed back for the Champions League final following a lengthy lay-off with an ankle problem – hopefully Mourinho will be more cautious.

That said, surely most footballers will be lacking match fitness having not played since mid-March.